Read Online Freya's Quest by Julian Lawrence Brooks - Free Book Online

Thought I’d get my Bentley serviced before heading to Scotland. I’ll pay, of course.’
    ‘Oh, I thought the Bentley belonged to Veronica,’ I said.
    Rupert grinned wryly.
    ‘Heading up to the MacAlistairs, eh? Ronni said you were keen on Lady Jennifer. She’s a bit of a handful. You’ll need to keep your wits about you.’
    Rupert nodded, then frowned.
    ‘Shame you and Janis haven’t worked out.’ As he said this, I had the impression he was rather pleased they hadn’t.
    ‘No. I can see now it was all her mother’s idea. I think I bored her.’
    Dylan smiled, then led me away to show me around the four-storey main building. It had been converted into a small museum for British cars from the Fifties and Sixties, which were fast becoming classics. Some were in original condition; others, he told me, had been restored by his small team of mechanics and bodywork specialists. I’d always liked old cars and he smiled at how enthralled I was.
    ‘I notice most are basic models. I see you have some MGs and Triumph TRs here. But I was expecting more high-performance sports cars.’
    ‘Yes. I can understand that,’ Dylan replied. ‘But there are enough collectors for those already. The more mundane marques and models are being lost as we speak. Take this Humber Super Snipe, for example.’ He laid his hand on the bonnet. ‘85% of all the Rolls Royces ever built still survive. Less than 10% of Humbers do.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘I suppose I’m also following Sera’s example. She had the riches to buy a luxury model. But she chose a humble little car instead. That’s why I’ve dedicated the museum to her memory.’ He pointed to a plaque on the wall.
    ‘Come on, let’s find Ronni.’
    ‘Veronica? – she’s here?’ It didn’t seem the right sort of environment for her.
    ‘Yes. She manages this place for me.’ He chuckled at my astonishment.
    He walked me over to the old mill-owner’s house, where Veronica lived. She met us at the door. She smiled at Dylan, but gave me a poisonous look. Dylan observed this and rebuked her with a cold stare. She became subdued as she guided us into the living room. A pot of tea was soon provided.
    Suddenly, an Old English sheepdog scampered in, jumping up on Dylan’s lap and licking his face. This lightened his mood again and the moment was forgotten.
    ‘Hello, boy. Have the mechanics been looking after you OK?’
    ‘He’s your dog?’
    ‘Yes. He’s been staying here for a few days. Janis unfortunately hates dogs.’
    The dog came over to me, sitting down and raising his paw. I cuddled him. ‘How could anyone hate you, eh? He’s lovely, Dyl., what’s his name?’
    ‘Quasimodo. Quasi for short.’
    ‘Oh, surely not. He’s too gorgeous for a name like that. Why?’
    ‘My favourite classic novel’s Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. I named the dog after the hunchback because I found him abandoned as a puppy, just as unwanted and unloved as Quasimodo.’
    ‘Oh, I see. Is he coming back with us?’
    ‘Yes, of course.’
    ‘I can’t get over how Emily was the other night,’ Veronica interrupted, looking at Dylan.
    ‘Neither can I.’
    Veronica sat down and poured herself a cup of tea. ‘She’s trying my patience, she really is.’
    ‘She ruined my garden with that bloody machine!’
    ‘Don’t talk to me about that confounded motorbike! And what about her uncouth friends? You met them yet?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘I suppose you could euphemistically call them “motorcyclists”.’
    ‘What? – A gang?’
    ‘ Hell’s Angels .’
    Dylan laughed. ‘You exaggerate too often, Ronni, that’s your trouble.’
    ‘No. I’m being serious. She’s joined them. Giving up the chance of Oxford, to gallivant around the country on that dangerous contraption. She’ll get herself killed. Now she’s threatening to change her appearance radically, no doubt encouraged by her new friends. Heaven knows what that’ll mean….And I think she’s self-harming again.’